Effect of aerobic activity and vitamin E on spatial memory and CREB protein expression in hippocampal tissue of rats with chronic sleep restriction

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of aerobic activity and vitamin E on spatial memory and CREB protein expression in the hippocampal tissue of young rats with chronic sleep restriction.

Fifty-six healthy adult male Albino-Wistar rats were randomly assigned into the groups. Chronic sleep restriction was applied through 18 hours of sleep deprivation for 4 weeks. Aerobic activity included 4 weeks of running on a treadmill. Vitamin E dissolved in sesame oil was fed to rats by gavage. At the end of the fourth week, the Morris Water Maze test was performed to measure spatial learning and memory. Western blotting technique was used to measure the expression of CREB protein in the hippocampus. Mixed analysis of variance (5 × 3) was used to analyze the data related to acquisition in the Morris Water Maze and one-way analysis of variance was used to analyze the data related to the probe of the Morris Water Maze and the expression of CREB protein. Bonferroni and Tukey post hoc tests were used for within- and between-group comparisons, respectively.

Chronic sleep restriction significantly impaired memory function during the acquisition phase and probe test as well as CREB expression (p < 0.05). Vitamin E had no significant effect on spatial memory and CREB protein expression in rats with chronic insomnia. Aerobic activity prevented the deleterious effects of chronic sleep restriction on memory function during the acquisition phase, probe test and the CREB protein expression (p < 0.05). Finally, vitamin E along with aerobic activity had a significant effect on the expression of CREB protein in chronic sleep restricted rats (p < 0.05) but in the behavioral test showed no greater effect than aerobic activity (p > 0.05).

It seems that a period of aerobic activity prevents the deleterious effect of sleep restriction on learning and memory impairment in rats. Vitamin E alone had no effect on memory impairment in sleep-deprived rats. Moreover, it did not increase the positive effects of aerobic activity on the memory impairment of the sleep-deprived rats.‎